Sunday 26 July 2015

Oatlands Village Fayre


Having got back from Weald Park late on Monday night, it felt like I'd not had much time to turn the lorry around (unpack, wash all costume and pad covers etc, clean out, empty toilet and refill water tanks, repack etc etc) before we were heading off again to the next show - Oatlands Village Fayre down in Weybridge.  Imie only lives very close so was planning on meeting us there, but as Helen would be coming in the lorry Monty was once again relegated into the back.

We trundled down without too much traffic (M25 on a Friday afternoon is never something to look forward to!), but on arrival at site we were greeted by a very very tight gate, set on an angle, with railings to content with as well - it was far tighter than either Todmorden or Colchester, let alone Hampsthwaite!  It took an awful lot of wiggling, along with holding the traffic up before we finally managed to squeeze our way in, but squeeze our way in we did!  We were then sited in a lovely corner surrounded by trees, and set up in no time.  We've got our set up pretty slick now, everyone has their own jobs and just gets them done. It's so nice not having to check everything because I know it will have just been done! And it means that even working at a nice pace and not rushing, we can be sitting down eating supper with the horses in their stables and sorted out within an hour and a half of arriving - not bad at all!  It'll certainly come in handy later on in the season when we have to travel from show to show!!

The following day was a lovely sunny day, and considering there was virtually nothing on site when we arrived, the whole fayre sprung up in no time - it always amazes me how an empty field can be transformed into a bustling event in only a few hours.  We had a lovely big space to warm up in and both the boys worked in beautifully. Casper was calm and concentrating, which with experience I have learnt usually doesn't bode well for the show!!  I wasn't wrong!  In the time it took us to walk the twenty metres from the tent into the arena he went from a lovely relaxed horse into a ridiculous excited one.  It's so frustrating, I can work him as much as I like at home and he is always absolutely foot perfect.  He's calm and lovely at shows until the very second he walks into an arena, and most of the time he's brilliant then as well. But one time in ten he will be so wound up its untrue!  I have no idea why he's like it at some shows and not at others, there doesn't seem to be any correlation between arena size, audience size, speaker distribution, music volume, surrounding attractions (stalls, rides, etc) or anything. Sometimes he's just manic and that's all there is to it, and you never know until you get I to the arena.  He's a conundrum for sure and certainly keeps me on my toes!!

Despite Casper's best efforts though both shows went through really well - vaulting on him was just sped up somewhat!  And thank god for Tinker!!  He's so sensible and lovely he is always a pleasure - although I know the audiences always prefer cheeky naughty Casper!

Before long it was time to pack up and head home - once we'd squeezed our way back out of the teeny tiny gateway that was!  I only got a few photos from the day, which you can see here.  But to make up for my lack of photos Imie has done another vlog!


We've got a weekend off before heading down to Hove for the Martlets Hospice Carnival on the late May Bank Holiday Monday - that'll be my next blog post!

Love Rosie x

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